Category: american idol 8

Joanna Pacitti, who gained early notoriety on American Idol this season for her list of professional experience, made the top 36 thanks to her strong voice, despite forgetting the words to all of her songs in Hollywood. But that was yesterday.

Today, the American Idol producers have decided that “It has been determined that Joanna Pacitti is ineligible to continue in the competition.” Felicia Barton, who was cut in a vote that was not unanimous, will be taking Pacitti’s place.

No additional information was available, but reportedly, the reason for Joanna’s departure is the result of her close relationships with executives at 19 Management, the company that manages the winner of American Idol.

Last night was more Hollywood in American Idol 8 Episode 10. 1 of the 4 rooms were sent home, mostly people we never heard of before except for Michael Castro, India Morrison, and Leneshe Young.

Tonight, the final 54 will be heading to the judges’ mansion and will be weeded down to the top 36. For some reason, although last night and many of the previous nights this season felt rushed (were New York and San Juan really so useless as to be packed together into 1 hour?), tonight’s episode will be filler full and two hours long. The twist this year is that some of them will have to sing for their lives.

Anoop Desai makes it through.

Von Smith (who Simon called the self indulgent child) decided on the final day of Hollywood to not listen to his family, which was the right move and enough to convince the judges to let him into the top 36.

Cody Sheldon, the horror film maker, will be singing one more time. Cody sings Love Never Remains the Same by Gavin Rossdale. Alex Wagner-Trugamn will be in the sing off against him. Alex sings Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me, which Clay Aiken covered a few years back. Alex will be advancing, not suprising considering the sing off. Randy tells Cody to come back next year.

Adam Lambert’s one of the singers with professional experience, but his experience is in the theater, which the judges haven’t been sure is what they’re looking for. Adam is through to the next round.

Taylor Vaifanua has gone from regular high school student to would be American Idol singer. She goes through to the next round.

Jamine Murray is also through, as are Arianna Afsar, Casey Carlson, Megan Corkrey, Mishavonna Henson, and Stevie Wright. Yeah, we didn’t need to see any of those six for more than a couple seconds.

Joanna Pacitti is without a doubt the most established American Idol singer in history, having already been given multiple chances to be a professional singer, with her last ending when she was dropped by her record label just over a year ago. Despite her experience, she forgot her words in every song in Hollywood week. She has made the top 36, but the judges tell her now is the time to finally bring it.

TK Hash has been cut, as have Chris Chatham, and Reggie Beasley.

Kendall Beard, the blonde who auditioned in Puerto Rico, makes it through.

Jenn Korbee auditioned with her husband Tom, but he was cut in Hollywood. She will be in another sing off, and she sings Not Ready to Make Nice by the Dixie Chicks. The other half of this sing off is Kristen McNamara, who had to deal with Nancy Wilson on group day. She sings I Will Always Love You, made famous by Whitney Houston. Simon asks: do you want to keep the very attractive blonde girl or the other one? Kara suggests just having a bunch of models come on the show, which may well be Simon’s next show, as he seems to like the idea. The judges say that Jenn made the wrong song choice despite being a pretty girl. Kristen’s told she has a strong voice but needs an image makeover. She will be going through to the next round, although Simon’s not happy about it. Don’t worry, Simon, it won’t take much work to turn her into a cute blonde.

Alexis Grace will have to spend time away from her young daughter sinces he is going through.

Scott MacIntyre is also going through.

Lil Rounds, mother of three, hopes this will put her and her kids in a good place. She advances to the next round.

Felicia Barton (not unanimously), Ashley Hollister, and Devon Baldwin are cut.

Frankie Jordan is in the next sing off. She sings The Story by Brandi Carlile, which the judges say has made it easier. Jesse Langseth sings against her, singing a song that Simon calls horrible. Simon suggests not picking either of them. Both of the songs are odd because they were songs for survival but were not songs that really showed what they can do. Jesse advances. Simon offers Frankie a consolation: she wouldn’t have won anyway. And Jesse, she has no chance either.

Shera Lawrence and Derik Lavers are the next to be cut.

Allison Iraheta got off to a rough start but shined in Hollywood. She is going through.

Jamar Rogers and Danny Gokey are back together again (and again and again). Danny is up first and advances. Jamar follows him but gets bad news, as he’s told the risks he took in Hollywood didn’t pay off.

Ricky Braddy, Matt Giraud, Ju’not Joyner, Jorge Nunez, and Brent Keith are going through.

Stephen Fowler thinks he was doing excellent until the last day of Hollywood. Despite the huge blunder that day, he will be going through.

Nick Mitchell is himself today, hopefully done being that stupid Norman Gentle character that got old quickly. Simon wants to change the mind of the others, but he’s outvoted, with Nick/Norman advancing.

Jackie Tohn goes through to the next round.

Following Jackie’s comparatively mild outburst of celebration, we’re now stuck dealing with Tatiana del Toro again. Simon’s annoyed from the second she walks in the room and asks her to try for once to not be annoying. In a not unanimous decision, she’s going to be around to annoy us even more. Hopefully Ryan Seacrest is not deaf after having this chick scream in his ear.

Jackie Midkiff will be in another sing off. He sings Michael Bolton’s When a Man Loves a Woman. Kara asks: why is he in this position since he’s so good? Nathaniel Marshall tells the story of why he’s so over the top emotional. He’s been bounced from relative to relative since his mom was in prison. He sings I’m Already There by Lonestar. Nathaniel will be advancing. Based on this sing off?

Jeanine Vailes advances (not unanimously), as do Kai Kalama, Anne Marie Boskovich, and Kris Allen.

The welder and the roughneck will be going up against each other. Matt Breitzke sings Satisfied by Ian Moore. Simon doesn’t like the song. Michael Sarver is up next. Simon likes both of them but is not sure either of them could win. They should both advance, and they both do.

The list of the American Idol Season 8 top 36 is:
Adam Lambert
Alexis Grace
Alex Wagner-Trugman
Allison Iraheta
Anne Marie Boskovich
Anoop Desai
Arianna Afsar
Brent Keith
Casey Carlson
Danny Gokey
Jackie Tohn
Jasmine Murray
Jeanine Vailes
Jesse Langseth
Joanna Pacitti
Jorge Nunez
Ju’not Joyner
Kai Kalama
Kendall Beard
Kris Allen
Kristen McNamara
Lil Rounds
Matt Breitzke
Matt Giraud
Megan Corkrey
Michael Sarver
Mishavonna Henson
Nathaniel Marshall
Nick Mitchell
Ricky Braddy
Scott MacIntyre
Stephen Fowler
Stevie Wright
Tatiana del Toro
Taylor Vaifanua
Von Smith

Over the next three weeks, the top 36 will perform in groups of 12.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of American Idol Season 8 episode 12, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on Fox.

American Idol 8 Episode 9 was group night in Hollywood. India, Justin, Kris, and Matt sailed through, as did Danny, Jamar, and Taylor. Bikini girl Katrina finally got cut, as did David Osmond.

The field has been narrowed down from 103,000 to 72. They will perform today with a band, backup singers, and instruments if they choose.

Adam Lambert is first, following mixed reviews earlier in Hollywood week. He sings Believe by Cher. Good voice. Wacky song choice.

Matt Giraud plays the keyboard while singing. This appears to be his element, and he gets a standing ovation.

Jamar Rogers sings Hey There Delilah. His buddy Danny Gokey also gets yet another bit of screen time. Both of them have proven to be strong singers and have a great advantage over many of the others who have not had the fortune of being in four episodes already this season.

Like Matt, Scott MacIntyre’s getting his shot behind his keyboard, singing Daughtry’s Home.

Texas native Kendall Beard impressed the judges in Puerto Rico but not so much in Hollywood. She sings Carrie Underwood’s Before He Cheats.

From here, I can tell it’s going to be speed night. This was so much better when Fox had no other shows that anybody actually watched and was forced to stretch these things out more than 10 seconds per person.

Mishavonna Henson got cut in Hollywood previously but is back to try again.

Tatiana del Toro, who’s a wee bit creepy, is back again. She sings Whitney Houston’s I’m Your Baby Tonight, and I’m still wondering why she’s here.

Nathaniel Marshall gets to play the guitar in his final audition, hopefully over the drama queenness for the time being.

Stephen Fowler was up all night rehearsing. It doesn’t show. He starts over, only to not be able to finish a second time.

Norman Gentle is back. Why? Just… why? He sings Georgia on my Mind. For some reason, the judges still find him funny.

Ann Marie Boskovich is worried about standing out since it seems like everybody’s singing I Hope You Dance.

The judges have the math wrong and have decided to move Tatiana from one room to another. It seems she’s on the bubble, which probably means not close enough to make the cut in the next round even if she does make it.

Kaylan Loyd was unable to make it through her song without Simon putting himself out of her misery.

Kai Kalama likewise struggled with his voice after the stress of Hollywood week.

Roughneck Michael Sarver continues to impress the judges.

Simon’s fleeing the country and heading to London, leaving Randy, Paula, and Kara to break the news to the contestants.

Room 2 hears the news first. They will be going through. The group includes Alexis Grace, Joanna Pacitti, Casey Carlson, Kai Kalama, Arianna Afsar, Jasmine Murray, Stephen Fowler, Nathan Marshall, and Michael Sarver.

Room 3 is next. They are at the end of the road. Michael Castro, India Morrison, Kaylan Loyd, and Leneshe Young have been cut.

Room 1 was the first group to be placed, and now they hear the news. They were probably the favorites who all the judges were easily able to agree about. They will be going through. Anoop Desai, Scott McIntyre, Danny Gokey, Jamar Rogers, Adam Lambert, Lil Rounds, Jorge Nunez, and Jackie Tohn will advance.

Room 4 is last and hoping a third room will be picked. While they’re making the contestants sweat, Tatiana’s already crying and praying to God. This group gets through as well. So… why did they make Tatiana switch rooms? Tatiana del Toro, Matt Breitzke, Cody Sheldon, Nick Mitchell, Ann Marie Boskovich, and TK Hash are among this group.

Tomorrow night the top 36 will be revealed.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of American Idol Season 8 episode 11, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on Fox.

Hollywood week began in American Idol 8 Episode 8, which was such a blur that it probably didn’t influence anybody’s opinion about the 104 contestants who remain.

Tonight is group night.

Rose is an outsider in her group. She accuses them (including bikini girl) of thinking this competition is about being cute. It got her this far.

Tatiana has a nervous breakdown and goes looking for another group. Nancy Wilson and Nate Marshall want no part of it and want her to return to the group that made her cry. For some reason, she turns her back on that group and heads back to her original group even though they were apparently willing to work with her. It’s not long before this group self destructs again. Back at Nancy and Nate’s group, Nancy can’t get along with Kristin. Then Nate joins the drama queen act.

Katrina wants to go to bed, where she starts crying, while the rest of team diva wants to stay awake. The divas go to wake up Katrina after a couple hours, but she doesn’t want to wake up. They don’t get how she could give up on such a huge opportunity. As if she wanted to do more than show off her body on TV. Her group says that she quit, but as they’re sitting there at the table, the completely unprepared Katrina arrives. Rose predicts the group will be a trainwreck.

Simon tells the groups that the most important thing is that they’re out if they forget the words. Harsh.

India Morrison, Justin Williams, Kris Allen, and Matt Giraud are first. Their unique take on the song stands out and gets them through to the next round.

Alex Wagner-Trugman, Ryan Pinkston, Anne Marie Boskovich, and Emily Wynne-Hughes (the Action Squad) has worked hard on perfecting their choreography but not quite so much on the singing. Alex and Anne Marie make it through. Ryan says he was manipulated and insulted by an evil-eyed Paula.

Danny Gokey and his buddy Jamar Rogers (who are sure getting a lot of screen time), along with Taylor Vaifanua and apparently some fourth wheel sing Somebody to Love a capella. They do an excellent job and all get through.

Team diva (Lauren Barnes, Katrina Darrell, Rose Flack, and Jasmine Murray) is apparently more confident than they were earlier. Simon guarantees they did not work together last night. Jasmine is the only one who makes it. Katrina takes one last opportunity to pose.

David Osmond has been cut, as has Austin Sisneros.

Muna Hiluf and Tatiana del Toro are up next. Everybody’s going through, including the two people in their group who aren’t shown. Tatiana takes the opportunity to make herself the center of attention with some more crying.

Nathaniel Marshall, Nancy Wilson, and Kristen McNamara are trying to make it work. Simon doesn’t think they like each other and calls their backup performances sabotage. Nate and Kristin go through, but Nancy is at the end of the line.

About 75 people have made it through to the final day of Hollywood.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of American Idol Season 8 episode 10, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on Fox.

The audition phase concluded in American Idol 8 Episode 7. Despite cramming both New York and Puerto Rico into the episode, there still wasn’t much worth talking about.

Now it’s time for Hell week in Hollywood at the Kodak Theater. In total, 147 singers have proceeded to Hollywood.

Lil Rounds gets another good reception from the judges. Dennis Brigham doesn’t impress Simon any more than he did last time.

This year, whoever’s out will go home right away, without being given any second chances. From the first group, Asia, Alexander, and Lil will be going forward.

Nathaniel Marshall, whoever that is, is up for group two. The judges like his voice but not the song choice. Could have done without the outburst. Anoop Desai, Jasmine Murray, and Rose Flack are in this group as well. Anoop and Jasmine sail through, but Rose has been having a rough couple days of rehearsal. The whole group is through to the next round.

Stephen Fowler is first in the next group, and the judges are impressed. Jorge Nunez does a Jon Secada song justice. Then it’s Von Smith’s turn. Simon calls his performance indulgent nonsense. All three of them will be staying in Hollywood.

Norman Gentle (why is he being given more screen time?) is back and wasting more time. Simon calls him a ridiculous joke. Nonetheless, Norman Gentle (aka Nick Mitchell) is staying around, along with Frankie Jordan and Scott Macintyre (two much better singers who we don’t even hear).

Female rocker Jackie Tohn will be going ahead in the first group of day two.

Best friends Danny Gokey and Jamar Rogers are back in the next group. Randy’s a fan of Jamar, and Paula tells Danny he’s ready to record records.

Bikini girl Katrina Darrell made it through on the strength of her assets. Now she’s back but slightly more appropriately dressed. Kara’s unimpressed again, but she makes it through on the strength of Simon’s and Randy’s drooling.

Randy says roughneck Michael Sarver is even better than the first time. Jesus Valenzuela, however, gets cut.

David Osmond and Erika Wesley sound good in the couple seconds we see of them. Punk rocker Emily Hughes has decided to sing a song she hasn’t rehearsed. The judges hate it. David, Emily, and some guy named Alex are through to the next round. Erika’s been cut but asks for a second choice. The judges are confused and arguing but refuse to budge on their decision that they’re not apparently sure how they arrived at.

104 contestants, most of whom we probably haven’t seen, will be proceeding to the next phase, group day.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of American Idol Season 8 episode 9, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on Fox.

Last night American Idol 8 Episode 6 delivered… not much again. We saw a lot of somewhat competent singers who probably won’t advance much further. Anyway, David Osmond, Frankie Jordan, Megan Corkrey, Austin Sisneros, Taylor Vaifanua, and Rose Flack all made it to Hollywood.

Tonight is the end of the auditions with the last chances for contestants to get to Hollywood. The first stop is New York.

Adeola Adegoke claims she quit her job to be here. She sings And I Am Telling You by Jennifer Hudson. I think we all know she didn’t really quit her job, but Simon agrees to speak to her boss.

For some reason, the next stop is San Juan, Puerto Rico. The plan is apparently to hop back and forth between the two.

Jorge Nunez sings My Way, and while it leaves question about how he’ll sound singing in English, he sounds pretty good in Spanish. In English, he sings What a Wonderful World… still nice but with a thick accident. The judges let him through to Hollywood.

Jessika Baier is from Michigan. I’m pretty sure they have auditions in the US, but anyway she’s in San Juan. She sings I Surrender by Celine Dion. The judges surrender.

Melinda Camille wants to uplift humanity to be part of the shifting universe, preferably without clothing. She sings Feeling Good. She’s okay and advances despite the creepy story.

Female rocker Jackie Tohn has been playing guitar and singing for years. She sings I’m Yours by Jason Mraz. I don’t get it. Simon asks for a second song, and she obliges. Better but still iffy. Still, enough to get through to the next round.

Joel Contreras is known as the crazy rocker, aka a waste of time. He’s quite excited by being told no.

Nick Mitchell (aka Norman Gentle) continues the wasting of time. The judges let him get a chair so he can hang out for a while and be on the screen for two minutes longer than anybody with actual talent. Paula says yes. Kara says yes. Simon says categorically no. Randy says yes. Isn’t this like a singing competition?

Then we hear about three sentences from people who actually deserve to go to Hollywood. No need for us to learn anything about them apparently.

Monique Garcia Torres brought her kid brother Cristopher with her. She sings You Can’t Hurry Love by the Supremes. Christopher does not approve and asks her to reconsider. After she’s done, Simon asks what the second song is. I Turn to You by Christina Aguilera is next, and it sounds better. Randy and Kara don’t think she’s ready, but Paula and Simon give her another shot. If she didn’t have her brother with her, she probably wouldn’t have made it.

Alexis Cohen was thrown out last year and had to be bleeped a lot. It’s a kinder, gentler Alexis. Let’s wait until she gets rejected. She sings Madonna’s Like a Prayer. The judges say she’s gotten worse, so she gets back to her old self. Please don’t show this chick when she comes back next year.

Patricia Lewis Roman sings I Wanna Dance with Somebody by Whitney Houston. Simon says it’s not good enough and a crazy song choice. They give her 30 seconds to change their minds, so she goes with a slower song. Randy says yes to one more chance. Paula says no, but she’s going to Hollywood.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of American Idol Season 8 episode 8, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on Fox.

The search for lack of talent continued in American Idol 8 Episode 5, but Jacksonville did deliver Jasmine Murray, TK Hash, and Ann Marie Boskovich.

Tonight it’s Salt Lake City, Utah, where they met David Archuleta last year.

David Osmond, part of the family that was famous several decades ago, is up first. David was in a wheelchair a few years ago due to his battle with Multiple Sclerosis. He sings Something within Me by Take 6, and he does not disappoint despite the judges trying to make it suspenseful.

Tara Mathews needs to either get some sun or cover up. She believes that she has ESP, which she probably should have used before coming on this show. She sings One Day I’ll Fly Away from Moulin Rouge. As badly as could have been expected.

Chris Kirkham has brought a 300 pound man dressed up in a pink bunny suit. He attempts to sing Pretty Baby, but Simon is distracted by the bunny. So then he sings Ain’t No Mountain High Enough but only gets out a couple words.

Stay-at-home mom Frankie Jordan sings Amy Winehouse’s You Know I’m No Good. She gets through to Hollywood.

Megan Corkrey is also a young mom, but she is recently divorced. She sings Can’t Help Loving That Man of Mine and has a unique voice.

Austin Sisneros is class president. He sings When I Look to the Sky by Train, but the mixed reactions he gets convince him to sing It Takes a Village by Raffi. Despite not getting the song choices, the judges agree to give him another chance.

Taylor Vaifanua says her parents moved her back from Samoa because of her music. Anyway… she sings Joyful Joyful. Randy calls it one of the best vocals of the season.

Rose Flack lives with her best friend and her family after having lost her father and mother within the past couple years. She sings I Feel the Earth Move by Carol King. Paula wants her to work on the vocals, and Simon didn’t like the song choice. But the judges all love her.

Tomorrow night concludes the audition phase and the road to Hollywood, and hopefully there’s something more to offer than there was tonight.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of American Idol Season 8 episode 7, which airs Thursday at 8/7c on Fox.

Louisville, KY wasn’t much more successful than San Francisco, but American Idol 8 Episode 4 did produce a bit of talent. Joanna Pacitti (who toured as Annie at age 11, sang Watch Me Shine on the Legally Blonde soundtrack, and has had a few minor TV roles), Alexis Grace, and Leneshe Young were the bright spots for the night.

Tonight they’re going to Jacksonville, Florida. On the way, Ryan and Simon get some practice speaking in their normal speaking voices. Then they pretend Randy is famous for something other than Idol.

Joshua Ulloa believes he’s Justin Guarini, the guy from season one who we never heard of again. He wants to get it on, and it appears he’s trying to sing I guess. Mostly, he just drowns in bad sound effects. The judges all say yes. I don’t get it.

Sharon Wilbur brings her dog Sasha with her, with a fresh haircut (the dog, not the girl). She sings Superstar by Karen Carpenter. Although Sasha is yawning, the judges let both of them through to Hollywood.

Kaneswa Finnie has been led to believe by her mother that she can sing. She has been led wrong. Simon drags her mom on to tell her to stop lying to her.

Julissa Veloz is wearing a tiara. She sings Whitney Houston’s I Have Nothing. Like Simon, I thought it was better than I was expecting. It’s good enough to get through to Hollywood.

Darin Darnell is full of spirit and energy. Then his friend gets cut. Now he’s sad. At least he has an excuse for why he sings so bad now. He sings It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye by Boyz II Men.

Naomi Sykes believes she can sing high notes like Mariah Carey used to be able to. But first her friend wants to pretend she’s a fan of Randy’s. She sings Loving You by Minnie Riperton. A waste of time no matter how many judges are getting lap dances during the performance.

At the end of the first day of auditions, we’ve seen… not much.

Jasmine Murray sings Big Girls Don’t Cry by Fergie. One of the best voices we’ve heard yet.

From there, we go to George Ramirez, who clearly is there to fill space. In his wildest dreams, he expects to have a simple house with nice marble floors in 11 years. What he sings is really irrelevant, but it’s supposed to be Walking on Sunshine apparently. He’ll see Ryan around, whatever that means.

Ann Marie Boskovich calls Kara her hero. Yeah, Kara doesn’t believe it either. She sings a little bit of one of Kara’s songs, making it clear she’s good, but before she can actually audition, Simon tells her to come back as a different person, literally.

Terrence TK Hash was rejected last year but is back again. He sings John Lennon’s Imagine. How’d they let this guy go before?

Michael Perrelli plays guitar wherever he goes. Too bad he can’t play his guitar in the audition (has he seen this show before?). The panic attack sets in, as he has no back up plan. He sings Third Eye Blind’s Jumper. Simon doesn’t like his voice. Kara thinks he may be better with his guitar. Simon gets on his case because he’s begging, something I don’t recall them jumping on anyone about before.

Ann Marie found a makeup artist on the street. Why she needed the makeover I’m not sure, but it works. She sings Bubbly, and as we already knew, she’s got a great voice.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of American Idol Season 8 episode 6, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on Fox.